And in the waiting, waiting,
In the cold night air,
Above the perfume of the earth,
A dancing voice, at last

At last my hand stirs – there,
My pen!
When I am mute,
When even my ordinary words
Have deserted me,
When beauty is beyond my ken
I crank up the drawbridge
And pace the battlements
I watch the skies for omens,
The terrain for signs of approach
My sentries were dismissed
Long ago:
It’s not attack I fear
And in the waiting, waiting,
In the cold night air,
Above the perfume of the earth,
A dancing voice, at last
At last my hand stirs – there,
My pen!
________________________________________________

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 4 Dec 2017.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: When I Am Mute, is included. Thank you.